


Gym

by EsculentEvil



Series: The Prince of Cards [1]
Category: Batman - All Media Types, Batman: The Animated Series
Genre: F/M, Fluff and Angst, Pre-Relationship, Screenplay/Script Format
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-05
Updated: 2019-01-05
Packaged: 2019-09-12 16:15:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16876086
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EsculentEvil/pseuds/EsculentEvil
Summary: Harleen and Richard bond over the fact that they're both gymnasts.





	Gym

**Author's Note:**

> Couple things to note: I'm sorry if Harley's accent gets too heavy—I head canon that it does that if she gets emotional. I’m also sorry if her accent doesn’t sound right; I feel it’s off myself. Because people didn’t react as badly to my [BatJokes/NightQuinn not-Valentine’s Valentine’s post](https://esculentevil.tumblr.com/post/170935138087/batjokes-and-nightquinn-this-is-not-your) as I thought they would, I decided to actually explore why I apparently ship NightQuinn even though there’s really nothing canon supporting them [or maybe there is and I just forgot?]; thus, we have this fanscript which addresses one possible reason: they are both great gymnasts! This came to me while I was planning out the 90′s Animated Continuity [I need an actual series name for this now, I swear] I ended up making with my [Batday post](https://esculentevil.tumblr.com/post/171045701888/the-villainous-life-11batjokes-happy-batday). I realized that, when Joker and Batman/Bruce go on a date, Harley would be left alone and Robin with only Alfred; and Joker, being the foreshadowing bass that he is, would see this as an opportunity for Har and Robin to bond; so he would suggest to Batman/Bruce that Harley babysit Robin— _maybe even give ol’ Jeeves some time off_ —and then things like this happen. The dialogue from Harley might come off as super feminist but, really, I just wanted to share with you all a bit more of how I see Harley: as a brave, brilliant, beast of a psychiatrist that’s physically honed and secretly heroic, even if she’s a bit rough around the edges, a bit too bitey at times, and a bit too devoted to bad ideas. Please don’t be offended. Lastly: this is NightQuinn **slowburn**  because I like to think that, especially with this continuity I have going, Nightwing started falling for Harley long before he grew up but didn’t realize it until after he stopped being Robin; and Harley never thought of him as anything more than her best friend’s pseudo-son until he became independent of Batman; after Robin grows into Nightwing, Harley will begin seeing him differently and that’s when their real romance will begin—but, until then, we’re just going to focus on their building friendship.

**Robin:**  [out of the blue as they’re watching Looney Tunes] Miss Quin? **  
**

**Harley:**  [smiles a bit mischievously] It's  _Doctor_ , actually. **  
**

**Robin:**  [pauses] O... Sorry: Doctor Quin... zel? [unsure]

**Harley:**  [laughs and waves his worries away] O, I'm just joshin' ya. You can still call me, Harley, silly.

**Robin:**  [frowns] ... That's... what Batman and Robin call you... [uncomfortable]

**Harley:**  [surprised] ... [smiles softly] Ah... Well then... Call me Harleen.

**Robin:**  Harleen?

**Harley:**  [amused] It's my real name.

**Robin:**  [blushes] O! Right. Then, uh... [unsure; hesitates]

**Harley:**  You don't have to tell me.

**Robin:**  [fidgets] ... I want to.

**Harley:**  [nods encouragingly but calmly] I won't tell.

**Robin:**  ... Dick.

**Harley:**  [misunderstanding] W-what?

**Robin:**  [blushing furiously] Richard! My name's Richard!

**Harley:**  [understands] O! [giggles] Dick as in tha nickname.

**Robin:**  Y-yeah... [embarrassed]

**Harley:**  [smiles] How ‘bout I call ya Richard, then?

**Robin:**  [surprised]

**Harley:**  [amused] I kinda like that name, actually.

[Robin blushes, smiles, and nods eagerly while relaxing.]

**Harley:**  [grins] Great! Now that that's out of the way... [eyes Robin contemplatively] Were you... wan’ing ta talk to me?

**Robin:**  [shy] Ah... Yeah, actually... I um... [unsure]

**Harley:**  [patiently] Yes?

**Robin:**  ... How did you get into gymnastics?

**Harley:**  [surprised, at first, before understanding wells in her] Ah... ‘Cause you're into gymnastics, too?

**Robin:**  [hesitates, as though that isn't completely accurate, before glancing up at Harley and nodding anyway] Yea...

**Harley:**  [smiles knowingly but lets it slide; knows he'll tell her when he's ready] Mah old man.

**Robin:**  [surprised] Your dad? [seems oddly happy]

**Harley:**  [confused at the joy shining in the boy's eyes; nods] Yea. He said it would make a girl outta me.

**Robin:**  [looks very confused and slightly offended] What??

**Harley:**  [laughs] Mah daddy always wan’ed a boy. He had all these fan'asies and dreams of takin' his boy out ta ball games and wrestlin'; but, instead, he had me: a GIRL. [smiles a bit sadly] It took 'im years ta get over it—Ah think he saw it as a loss or sommin'—an' by tha time he was... [chuckles dryly] I was tha boy he wan'ed in a girl's body.

**Robin:**  [hopeful but dreading] So he still got what he wanted?

**Harley:**  [grins tightly and shakes her head] No. He still had a girl. Worse: he had a girl that weren't a GIRL. Ah think it made 'im angry.

**Robin:**  [confused; experiencing sympathetic heartache] Why...?

**Harley:**  ... [seems to consider her words very carefully] ... 'Cause... By tha time he was ready ta accept his daughter... ‘e didn' have one. Instead, 'e had a freak.

**Robin:**  ... [sadly/comfortingly] You're not a freak, Harleen.

**Harley:**  [smiles thankfully at Robin] I know. [pauses; flushes; laughs] I mean: I know tha’ NOW. It, uh... weren't as obvious back then.

**Robin:**  ... [still confused—perhaps now more than ever—because this means gymnastics should be seen negatively by Harley] What happened?

**Harley:**  [hums] Ah did it, feeling like Ah was bein' punished. Then... [grins, wide and wicked and winning] 'Cause it made me happy!

**Robin:**  [confused]

**Harley:**  [smirks] Back then, girls weren't allowed ta do much. We couldn't really do sports and things like that—some schools didn't even let girls do Phys. Ed.!

**Robin:**  [incredulous]

**Harley:**  It was a different world before the Woman's Rights Movement took proper hold. [giggles as Robin seems to understand] I was lucky enough ta be in a school tha’ let me be in P.E.! Even luckier: I was in one that sort a’ took to tha Movement pretty early. When they saw mah talents, they actually fostered them!

**Robin:**  Your gymnastic ones?

**Harley:**  [shrugs; nods] Basically. Honestly, it was a bit, uh... [seems to struggle with her wording] It was more like they were fostering mah anti-socialism.

**Robin:**  [blank stare] ... What?

**Harley:**  [laughs] Bein’ anti-social ain't ‘bout not talking ta people, Richard; it's about being against society and its norms. [smiles as Robin seems to understand what she means] Girls weren't supposed ta be sporty or independent or stronger than boys and Ah ended up bein’ all those things; and my school, luckily, helped me do that.

**Robin:**  [confused but interested] Stronger than boys?

**Harley:**  [grins] Ah excelled in sports so much that a lot of the guys in mah class were intimidated by me; they felt threatened ‘cause I'm a girl but so much better at ‘em at somm’in that's supposed ta be all male. Some of those guys got so frightened of me that they tried ta bully me inta going  _back ta my flowers and pinks_ ; but I refused and fought t’em instead—literally.

**Robin:**  [awed]

**Harley:**  [smiling proudly and contentedly at the memories] And instead of punishing me, mah school actually listened ta me an’ agreed that those boys shouldn't have done what they did. I was given warnings and told ta prove myself in otha’ ways that didn't require violence rather than be expelled and that's how I got a gymnastics scholarship to Gotham U!

**Robin:**  So... [looks a bit sad] It wasn't because your dad encouraged and supported you or shared gymnastics with you?

**Harley:**  [stares contemplatively at Robin; begins to understand what this is about] ... Is that how YOU got inta it?

**Robin:**  [blushes; hesitates before nodding] My parents... before they died... They were part of a circus. They taught me everything they knew.

**Harley:**  [watches Robin remember his parents with a sad smile] ... My ol' man... [locks eyes with Robin when he glances up] 'E never taught me much. Ah learned that people can be real' petty if they don't get their way, 'cause 'a 'im, and 'ow ta be strong when people wan' me ta be sommin' Ah ain't; but 'e never taught me anythan' 'e knew or did thangs wit' me because 'e wan'ed me ta be 'is ideal lil' girl. [smiles slightly] Ah'm glad ya had diff'rent parents ta me.

**Robin:**  [blinks in wonder; realizes Harley said DIFFERENT and not BETTER; smiles widely and nods] Yea... me, too.

[The two share a quiet smile before beginning to talk about their favorite moves and the ones they have the hardest time with, giving each other tips and advice well into the night. Batman finds them passed out on the couch hours later, Robin's head on Harley's shoulder and Harley's head on Robin's, and smiles. Joker just snaps a pic and tries not to laugh as he sends it to the other Villains.]


End file.
